The Nigerian Government has approved the National Policy on Internal Displacement.
The approval was made following a policy presentation made by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Sadiya Umar Farouq, in Abuja.
In her presentation, the Minister noted that the policy will provide a platform for all relevant actors in the Humanitarian and Development space to key in and contribute towards a common goal.
According to her, it includes the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, whose role on managing digital identities of IDPs in collaboration with the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs is also clearly captured in the draft document.
“The overall goal of the policy is to strengthen the institutional mechanism and frameworks for the realization of the rights, dignity and well being of vulnerable populations through mitigation of the impact and achievement of durable solutions to Internal Displacement in Nigeria”, she noted
Implementation of the policy
Umar Farouq further stated that the Ministry will coordinate the implementation of the National IDP policy through the Civil-Security Cooperation (CISEC) framework which is already providing a platform for the coordination of responses between the Government, civilians and security apparatus in humanitarian settings.
“The coordination of the IDP policy will be one more chip that falls into place in Government’s strategic methods of improving and ultimately resolving internal displacement.
“The State Government is responsible for the welfare of its indigenes while the Federal Government is concerned with the welfare of all Nigerian citizens. In times of humanitarian challenges, the State Government has the primary responsibility while the Federal Government intervenes as required. However, the Federal Government will be responsible for ensuring that the framework for protection and assistance through this Policy is being adhered to by all actors, across all tiers of Government and across all sectors”, she said.
Having obtained approval for the policy, a multi sectoral structure will fully emerge to ensure that all individual actions by all actors are aligned to an overall plan, with set objectives and targets which include resolving various challenges faced by displaced persons, mitigating disasters, providing relief, conflict resolution, supporting rehabilitation efforts, social protection, preventing encampment and facilitating durable solutions.
Since its inception in 2019, the Ministry has been coordinating responses to humanitarian issues affecting the country.
It has also been responding to disasters while building capacity of responders and actors within the disaster management sector, to adequately mitigate and prevent disasters from occurring.
Nneka Ukachukwu
